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Are natural history museums ready to become superheroes? Center for the Future of Museums Share     Natural history museums might have the greatest potential of any museums to play global superhero. But to change the world for the better, natural history museums must first change themselves. CFM is ready to help, and so can you. Find out how by reading the CFM blog. Also, remember that next week is AAM's Annual Meeting. If you can't make it to Minneapolis Saint Paul, join us online for the AAM 2012 Virtual Conference (April 29-May 1).
Survey: Education system stifles creativity THE Journal Share
Is the American education system stifling creativity? That's the attitude held by a majority of Americans, according to a new worldwide survey focused on attitudes toward creativity in schools, the workplace and the home. More
Lifespans of US women stall versus men Futurity.org Share
The lifespans of women in the U.S. are improving at a much slower pace than men's, according to new county-by-county estimates of life expectancy. The data also show that life expectancy for black Americans — both men and women — is improving at a faster rate than for white Americans, especially in large urban areas in New York and California. ♦ How will museums serve the needs of these older Americans in the future? More Obesity problem linked to over-indulgent cultural norms The Pendulum Share
Nearly 34 percent of Americans are affected with something that is slowly killing them. If this was a disease spreading like wildfire, the country would be throwing all of its weight behind finding a cure. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on the view, this is a problem that we cause and cure on our own: Obesity. Celebrities, television stations and even the First Lady have tried to reverse the growing trend. ♦ And you can do something by participating in Let's Move! Museums & Gardens. More
Net migration from Mexico falls to zero — and perhaps less Pew Research Center Share
After four decades that brought 12 million current immigrants — more than half of whom came illegally — the net migration flow from Mexico to the United States has stopped and may have reversed. The standstill appears to be the result of many factors, including the weakened U.S. job and housing construction markets, heightened border enforcement, a rise in deportations, the growing dangers associated with illegal border crossings and the long-term decline in Mexico's birth rates. More 
The under educated male Small Business Labs Share
Two good articles from Bloomberg Business Week highlighting a huge issue that is not getting enough attention — the lack of men getting college educations. ... The long-standing college education gap between women and men is forecast to grow with 60 percent of all college students being women in 2019 (up from 57 percent in 2011). More
The future life of buildings SmartPlanet Share
By the year 2050, six billion people will live in cities. To survive the influx of all those people and the increase of energy demands, scientists and designers predict that the manmade urban environment will come alive. A report by Spencer Kelly for BBC looks at projects that will allow buildings to sense and adapt to the people in them and the environment around them. More 
Orlando Museum of Art lets public choose exhibit Orlando Sentinel Share
Online voting has decided the fate of singers, ballroom dancers and dance crews. Now it's being used to decide what goes on the walls of art museums. When Orlando Museum of Art's "Picturing My Florida" exhibit opens Saturday, it will join cultural icons such as the Smithsonian Institution and Brooklyn Museum in letting the public choose what's displayed. Opening the museum doors in that way also opens debate on who judges what's worthy to be exhibited. ♦ Quotes CFM director Elizabeth Merritt. More
Museums want to entertain you (and that's not a bad thing) The Atlantic Share
Once, art museums were like fortresses. They were built of stone atop forbidding mountains of stairs. Today, museums might be nestled under glass pyramids, or sheathed in undulating ripples of stainless steel, or built to look like boats and the hood of a sports car. A city in China has plans for a comic book museum that's shaped like a speech bubble. More Newest Michigan museum showcases racist artifacts The Associated Press via The (Danbury, Conn.) News-Times Share
The objects displayed in Michigan's newest museum range from the ordinary, such as simple ashtrays and fishing lures, to the grotesque — a full-size replica of a lynching tree. But all are united by a common theme: They are steeped in racism so intense that it makes visitors cringe. That's the idea behind the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia [at Ferris State University], which says it has amassed the nation's largest public collection of artifacts spanning the segregation era. More The night shift: Night at the museum The Grid Share
Last weekend, the Royal Ontario Museum launched Friday Night Live, a weekly themed art/music/food series that hopes to connect younger patrons with the city's cultural corners. While the ROM is undoubtedly a hub for child-centric activities and artifacts ... FNL is geared to the 19-plus set. Over the next 10 weeks, the series will host a variety of Toronto institutions — from Hot Docs to the Toronto Fashion Incubator — to mount a collection of distinct, one-night-only attractions that blend the art of being merry (read: partying) with demographic-specific entertainment. More At Peabody Museum, youngsters recycle trash into artwork Boston Globe Share
Plastic bottles, cardboard popcorn boxes, and ripped-up rubber mesh littered the floor in the back of a Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology classroom. For the second year in a row, the educational programmers at the Harvard University museum celebrated Earth Day by giving middle-schoolers a chance to reuse recyclable goods to craft creations from inner-tube sandals to Drano bottle cars with cans for wheels. More Pahmuk: State museums are so antiquated The Guardian Share
Nobel laureate Ohman Pahmuk, creator of both the literary and (starting April 27) physical "Museum of Innocence," comments on the future of museums: "Museums should explore and uncover the universe and humanity of the new and modern man emerging especially from increasingly wealthy non-western nations. The aim of big, state-sponsored museums, on the other hand, is to represent the state. This is neither a good nor an innocent objective. ... We are sick and tired of museums that try to construct historical narratives of a society, community, team, nation, state, people, company or species. We all know that the ordinary, everyday stories of individuals are richer, more humane and much more joyful than the stories of colossal cultures." More 
New research could mean cellphones that can see through walls Science Daily Share
Comic book hero superpowers may be one step closer to reality after the latest technological feats made by researchers at University of Texas at Dallas. They have designed an imager chip that could turn mobile phones into devices that can see through walls, wood, plastics, paper and other objects. More |
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